We are
on the home stretch now with only a few days remaining
before our big event. If you are a first timer or just
need a refresh about the race weekend click on the link
below for detailed information?

On a perfect spring day
in the Greater Toronto Area for today’s Toronto
Marathon and the Mississauga Marathon, thousands of people
took to the streets to celebration spring–and running.

Mississauga Marathon

At the Mississauga Marathon, David Mutai
of Etobicoke, Ont. took the win in 2:27:06. Mitch Free
of St. George, Ont. finished second overall (and first
masters runner), in 2:35:36, and Lucas White of Toronto
was third, in 2:35:54. In the women’s race, Maureen
Mahoney of Ottawa was first, in 2:53:53. Beth Mountford
of Toronto was second, in 2:58:10, and Breigh Gillis of
Toronto was third, in 3:10:18. For
complete results, click here.

Mississauga Half-Marathon

In the Mississauga Half, Benjamin Raymond
of Laval, Que. was first, in 1:08:07, followed by Bonsa
Gonfa in 1:08:40 for second-place, and Keenan Viney in
third in 1:09:54. Among the women running the half, Gladys
Tarus of Toronto was first, in 1:17:57, Emily Patton was
second in 1:23:15, and Robyn Collins of Waterloo was third,
in 1:24:59. For
complete results, click here.

Toronto Marathon

In the Toronto Marathon, Ken Langat clocked
2:28:51 for the win. Ben Gustafson of Toronto was second,
in 2:33:51, and Alex Yu of Markham was third, in 2:39:40.

In the women’s race, Dale Findlay
of Toronto was first, in 2:53:58. Veronica Allen of Ottawa
was second, in 3:00:05, and Brianna Cavan of Annan, Ont.
was third, in 3:03:24. For
complete results, click here.

Toronto Half-Marathon

In Toronto half-marathonresults, Simon Crawford
of Waterloo was first across the line, in 1:12:15. Second
was Manases Kemai, in 1:13:06, and Mark Chan of Mississauga
was third, in 1:15:49. In the women’s race, Julie
Hamulecki of Toronto was first, in 1:21:41. Kathleen Devine
was second, in 1:21:55, and Katarina Mylvaganam was third,
in 1:23:40. (Hamulecki holds the Canadian record in the
100K, from last year’s 100K world championships
in Croatia.) For
complete results, click here.

Unfortunately, there seems to have been
a major mishap in the 5K at Toronto, with poorly trained
volunteers misdirecting hundreds of runners who finished
up well short of 5K.

A switch
from snow to black flies brings the track athletes out
2019-05-08
by Randy Pascal

Run a few days earlier, the
2019 LU Black Flies Track and Field Meet might have been
more aptly dubbed the Snowflake Festival.

Thankfully, with the unwelcome May mid-week
dumping of the white stuff receding nicely by Saturday,
entries from a handful of high-schools just chomping at
the bit to begin their outdoor season locally were putting
the wheels in motion for what they hope will be a memorable
summer.

St Charles College senior Eric Struk feels
that motivation perhaps a little more than most. “With
it being my last year, you want to make your mark, you
want to be remembered,” he said, shortly after capturing
the 400m dash in a solid time of 52.79 seconds. “Last
year, I was really distracted and not motivated. This
year, I really want to do well and make it to OFSAA.”

Raising the stakes by committing to three
day a week workouts with Olympic gold medal winner Robert
Esmie, Struk has been a mainstay in the shorter sprints
(100m/200m) during his time as a Cardinal, but may have
stumbled across an intriguing change, with the city championships
only weeks away.

“I did my first 400 metre race in
two years today,” noted Struk. “I wasn't expecting
to do this well. I thought I would just try my best and
see what happens. But all of the training we have been
doing seems to have shaped me to more of a 400 metre runner.”

By contrast, the junior boys 400m event
could well be the domain of the Lasalle Lancers. While
“AAA” hockey talent Tyson Belland captured
the distance as a midget last spring, it is Lancer teammate
Aidan Lowe who is looking particularly quick out of the
blocks, crossing the line first on Saturday in a new meet
record of 54.91 seconds.

“It's one of my favourite races,”
said Lowe. “My first five steps are like a sprint
for me, and then I try and carry it through. At the end,
I push my hardest. You have to keep up momentum.”

Belland and Lowe are but two of a nice
young influx of track talent at Lasalle Secondary, a grouping
that also included top performances from Jasmine Savignac
(1st in MG 100m/200m), Janelle Chhun (1st – JG 400m),
Josh McKay (1st – MB 100m/200m), Bradley Kroft (1st
– MB high-jump) and Callum Passi (2nd – Open
Boys 3000m) at the season opening meet.

Unfortunate news circulating around the
soccer pitch yesterday, as it seems that Passi, the first
local OFSAA cross-country medal winner in over twenty
years, has sustained a fracture in one of his feet and
will likely have to bypass the high-school track season
entirely this spring.

“Right now, we're doing really good
so far, but it is the first meet, so we can't really say
too much,” said Lowe. “But our midgets are
fast.” Of course, even with an impressive group
of grade nine and ten athletes, the Lancers are still
a ways from posing a real serious team threat to the juggernaut
that is the Lo-Ellen Park Knights.

Many of those leading that charge have
become familiar names in these circles and are looking
strong, including defending OFSAA bronze medal winner
Kurtis Wennerstrom, who unleashed a PB of 6.54m in the
long jump last June to finish third in Windsor, but kicked
off 2019 with a meet record leap of 6.84 metres this weekend.

“I've been dealing with a bit of
an injury in my quad,” said the grade 11 student
at Lo-Ellen, back on the track on Sunday to help coach
Jim Taylor, up from the Kitchener area to run a Jump/Throw
clinic in Sudbury. “I wasn't going to do my events,
I skipped the triple jump, but I decided to do the long
jump because it started to feel better. I was rolling
it throughout the day.”

“That jump gave me a lot of confidence,
heading into the season.”

That jump also brought a huge smile to
the face of coach Taylor, a mainstay on the local scene
for several years, before moving south with his family.
These days, he works with a large number of OFSAA medal
winning jumpers, all while keeping an eye on son Ryan,
a sophomore at Central Michigan University and graduate
of Northeastern Public School in Garson.

While Ryan and Jim were almost always
side by side, at the track, as the talented youngster
worked his way up the ranks, father sees the current separation
borne largely out of his very busy schedule in coaching
as a very positive thing.

“I think it's been beneficial for
both of us,” said Jim, having completed his workshop
with the local crew on Sunday. “It's beneficial
for Ryan, in that he gets a different perspective from
his coaching. It's beneficial for me, because sometimes
it's a tough, tough go in separating the father-son connection
from the athlete-coach thing.”

“We kind of experimented with it
last summer at the national championships. It was the
best competition I ever had, because I really enjoyed
just being a dad at that event.”

Taylor did not travel north alone, however,
bringing along fellow Brantford Track Club coach Sean
Doucette. “I would say that he is our best youth
development throws coach in the country,” said Taylor.
No surprise then that this is where OFSAA silver medal
winner (discus) Lauren Fearn of Lo-Ellen has hitched her
wagon.

“I started training in January with
Sean,” said Fearn, who did not compete in the Black
Flies, given that no throwing events are included. “We
trained once a month and he taught me some new techniques.”
Still, the reality for the grade ten student at Lo-Ellen
is that she is still only just cutting her teeth in the
troika of events (shot put, discus, javelin) that require
an incredible attention to technical detail to succeed
at a truly elite level.

“I'm still just learning the javelin,
so that's my weaker discipline, for sure,” she said.
“I've always been good at the shot put, but it's
an event that I don't like as much as the discus. But
Sean says I can be really good at shot put, because I
have the best build for that.”

“The good news is that each of them
involve the fact that my whole left side will block, so
there is some consistency, and every single one includes
hips,” said Fearn, who acknowledges a very well-earned
reputation as being more than a bit chatty at times. “My
coaches like to say, “more hips, less lips”
because I talk so much,” she noted with a smile.

While some of the athletes are off to
North Bay for the Nipissing Invitational this weekend,
upcoming local events include the SDSSAA Track Relay meet
on May 15th, leading into the city championships on May
22nd and 23rd.